CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Healthcare workers around the state were saluted uniquely on Wednesday.
Both West Virginia Air National Guard airlift wings, the 167th Airlift Wing in Martinsburg and 130th Airlift Wing in Charleston, participated in a flyover of dozens of hospitals in their respective regions to salute and honor front line COVID-19 healthcare and first responders as part of the Department of the Air Force’s Operation American Resolve.
“West Virginians are our neighbors and our friends. We live in this community so we are going to be there for this community,” Air Force WV National Guard Brig. Gen. Christopher “Mookie” Walker said on Wednesday’s MetroNews ‘Talkline.’
Walker said both airlift wings are an operational reserve and not a strategic reserve so they used the salute to also be part of training. He said the 167th using the AW C-17 Globemaster III aircraft was doing an aerial refueling mission and the 130th AW C-130H Hercules aircraft was doing an air medical evacuation mission with no additional cost to taxpayers.
Medical workers are only one of the many occupations held by part-time workers with the Guard. Walker said the West Virginia Air National Guard has people who have other jobs including airline pilots, business owners, teachers, professors, insurance salesmen, and first responders.
“Coincidentally, we have air medical evacuation nurses and medical techs onboard training as well today (Wednesday),” he said.
“We have healthcare workers in the air celebrating the healthcare workers on the ground,” Walker said.
Air Force @WVNationalGuard Brig. Gen. Christopher “Mookie” Walker speaks with @HoppyKercheval about the flyover across WV to salute frontline healthcare workers. WATCH: https://t.co/wkudfIRZCB pic.twitter.com/vtuwfj31HO
— MetroNews (@WVMetroNews) May 13, 2020
The route from the 167th AW C-17 Globemaster III aircraft included Berkeley Medical Center in Martinsburg; Meritus Medical Center in Hagerstown, Md.; War Memorial Hospital in Berkeley Springs; Western Maryland Regional Medical Center in Cumberland, Md.; Potomac Valley Hospital in Keyser; Grant Memorial Hospital in Petersburg; Hampshire Memorial Hospital in Romney; Winchester Medical Center in Winchester, Va.; Jefferson Medical Center in Ranson and the Martinsburg Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
Included in the route of the 130th AW C-130H Hercules was Charleston Area Medical Center Teays Valley; Cabell Huntington Hospital; Pleasant Valley Hospital in Point Pleasant; Jackson General Hospital in Ripley; Braxton County Memorial Hospital in Gassaway; Summersville Regional Medical Center; Greenbrier Valley Medical Center in Lewisburg; Summers County Appalachian Regional Hospital in Hinton; Princeton Community Hospital; Bluefield Regional Medical Center; Welch Community Hospital; Logan Regional Medical Center; Boone Memorial Hospital in Madison; Raleigh General Hospital in Beckley; Plateau Medical Center in Oak Hill; Montgomery General Hospital; Charleston Area Medical Center Memorial; Charleston Area Medical Center General; St. Francis Hospital in Charleston; Charleston Area Medical Center Women and Children’s, Hospital; Thomas Memorial Hospital in South Charleston, Family Care in St. Albans, and WVU Medicine in Morgantown.
Aside from the salutes, Walker said these aircraft have been all over the world on missions including important ones during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“One of the C17s from the 167th has been a critical asset from the US response. They recently flew a mission to Italy to pick up one million COVID-19 test kits and drop them off at Memphis, Tennessee at the FedEx main hub so they can be distributed throughout the United States,” he said.
Pictures and videos from the flyovers across the state can be viewed on the WV National Guard’s Twitter page.